Paul Rees - news, views and opinion - The Rugby Paper

Paul Rees: Money was the theme for the Lions – and that will not change

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 02:59:23 +0000

Paul Rees says that, as the Lions chase every pound, the home unions can't complain if players do the same As weary Lions’ supporters, some 40,000 of them, returned home last week broke but satisfied, they received an e-mail inviting them to fork out on a limited edition watch to commemorate the series victory. Called […]

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Paul Rees: Nic White and Will Skelton put Wallabies in driving seat for Third Test

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 02:59:49 +0000

Where there is a will there is a way to win – not just big Will Skelton but the collective determination of a side that had come within a disputed refereeing decision of squaring the series seven days before. The Wallabies used the desperate disappointment of that night in Melbourne as fertiliser and the conditions […]

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Paul Rees: This triple lock will give the British and Irish Lions longer life

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 02:59:26 +0000

Paul Rees looks into whether the Lions should stick with visiting Australia, New Zealand and South Africa Who would have thought it, the whinging Wallabies? After all the flak sent the way of Pommy sporting teams over the years, Australia did not take the loss of the series to the Lions gracefully last weekend after […]

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Paul Rees: George Skivington sets his sights on building another crop of Kingsholm legends

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 02:59:20 +0000

Paul Rees continues his summer series reviewing the Premiership season, with the focus this week on Gloucester Gloucester did not win a trophy last season, unlike the one before, but they took considerably more out of the campaign. It sounds counter-intuitive, although Bath were the only English club that needed to rearrange its trophy cabinet […]

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British and Irish Lions leave it late to find fitting way to win series against Wallabies

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 02:59:49 +0000

At last, a proper test for the Lions in Australia. And it was decided at the last when Hugo Keenan scored 50 seconds from the end, time Finn Russell used up for the conversion. The Lions won despite never having been ahead when the ball was in play: the clock keeps ticking for a conversion […]

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Paul Rees: Wales need dose of harsh reality

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 02:59:28 +0000

Paul Rees says Scotland's defence coach Steve Tandy is the right man to take over from Warren Gatland Wales' five month search for a head coach to replace Warren Gatland ended last week when Steve Tandy was appointed on a three-year contract. He became the first Welshman to take charge of the side full-time for […]

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Paul Rees: Andy Farrell will take it, but a lot more is required from the British and Irish Lions

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 02:59:53 +0000

No team that has won the first Test in a full series between Australia and the Lions has gone on to claim the second – and only once have they taken the series. And so it is history, rather than form and reinforcements, that will fuel the Wallabies this week after they were outfought and […]

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Paul Rees: England’s aim must be 2027 World Cup final

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 02:59:25 +0000

Paul Rees says that Steve Borthwick's men must build on their series success in Argentina, and aim for glory at the next World Cup England's summer tour has created a mere ripple of interest compared to the tidal surge in Australia the Lions have been riding on, and that is the way head coach Steve […]

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Paul Rees: With the stars they have, Harlequins should be winning many more games

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 02:59:09 +0000

Paul Rees continues his summer series reviewing the Premiership season, with the focus this week on Harlequins It is only four years ago that Harlequins won the Premiership, coming from nowhere in the second half of the campaign after a coaching shake-up to run away with the title in their very own way by backing […]

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Paul Rees: No more talking, it’s time for the British and Irish Lions to roar…

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 02:59:27 +0000

Paul Rees says that, unless Joe Schmidt has been cultivating a banana tree, the Lions are unlikely to slip up The Lions last weekend scored 14 points in the first half against the Waratahs, leading 14-5 at the break, but then managed just seven more. Less than 24 hours later, Australia did the same, although […]

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Paul Rees: It’s a free hit for the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 02:59:26 +0000

Australia needed the run-out against Fiji last Sunday, but an unwanted consequence was a neck injury suffered by Noah Lolesio that ruled the outside-half out of the series. The 25-year-old may not be among the world’s leading 10s and would lag behind all four in the Lions’ squad, but he had come to provide some […]

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Paul Rees: Northampton Saints paid the price for battling on two fronts

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 02:59:11 +0000

Paul Rees continues his summer series reviewing the Premiership season, with the focus this week on Northampton Northampton Saints finished two off the bottom of the Premiership a year after beating Bath to clinch the title, but showed they had not regressed by reaching the Champions Cup final and pushing Bordeaux-Begles all the way in […]

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Paul Rees: Andy Farrell set to make the big calls for British and Irish Lions

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 02:59:28 +0000

Paul Rees says the head coach's decision to select his son Owen is controversial - but could help the cause As the first Test of the Lions series looms, it is Australia who fret over preparation time. The tourists played their fourth match yesterday with all but three players having started at least one game […]

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Exeter Chiefs decide to go Down Under as they begin their rebuilding exercise

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 02:59:06 +0000

Paul Rees continues his summer series reviewing the Premiership season, with the focus this week on Exeter Chiefs Exeter quickly became a byword for stability after they were promoted to the Premiership in 2010, progressing each season to the point where, after 10 years, they were celebrating the Premiership and Champions Cup double. Having reached […]

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Paul Rees: Steve Borthwick’s search for players with the X-factor

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 02:59:27 +0000

Paul Rees looks at the names who might emerge during England's tour of Argentina and trials down under When the big cats are away….. With England supplying 13 Lions and hit by a clutch of injuries, they arrived in Argentina last week for a two-Test tour ahead of a one-off against the United States in […]

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Paul Rees: Joe Schmidt quite happy to set off a grenade

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 02:59:26 +0000

Joe Schmidt is not a coach who tries to get a rise out of opponents ahead of a match or series. So it was a surprise last week when he generated headlines for a remark, even if typically understated, he made on the Lions’ centre pairing for the clash against Argentina in Dublin – Sione […]

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Steve Diamond’s call: Newcastle Falcons need to invest in boots on the ground

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 02:59:05 +0000

Paul Rees begins his summer series reviewing the Premiership season, starting with the bottom club Newcastle Falcons Newcastle finished bottom of the Premiership for the third successive season as they hunted for a new owner, but they had far more to take from the campaign than the previous one. They won two matches having been […]

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Paul Rees: British and Irish Lions boss Andy Farrell sticks to his guns for future gains

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 02:59:50 +0000

The Lions may have lost to Argentina, but as an indicator of what is to come Down Under it does not count for much. The last time they went down in the opening game of a tour, which Friday night was even if the venue were Dublin rather than an Australian city, was in 1971 […]

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Paul Rees: Ben Spencer’s kicking has Bath on the front foot

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 02:59:52 +0000

It felt as if the trophy presentation could have been made at half-time. Bath led 13-7, and only once in their 36-match season had they lost having been ahead at the break. That was at Leinster in the Champions Cup when prop Beno Obano was sent off after an hour. Bath’s success - they finished […]

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Paul Rees: British and Irish Lions get ready to roar again

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 02:59:35 +0000

Paul Rees assesses the challenges ahead as Andy Farrell's squad prepare to set off on a tour of a lifetime As the season ends, so the tour begins. The Lions set off for Australia via Dublin, where they face Argentina on Friday night at the same time Blair Kinghorn’s Toulouse engage in their Top 14 […]

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Paul Rees: Big names are hitting the jackpot at No.10

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 08 Jun 2025 02:59:29 +0000

It pays to be an outside-half in the Premiership. The recently published salary cap report for the 2023-24 campaign saw the average pay for a 10 was not far from double that of a scrum-half. It provided the headline for the report which showed how the average salary of senior players had dropped by more […]

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Paul Rees: R360 would have to find a new audience

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 08 Jun 2025 02:59:28 +0000

The build-up to the Premiership play-offs was hijacked by a global franchise competition that is being planned for next year. It would involve eight men’s teams and four women’s sides. Called the R360, it would be played between April and September with a break in July, which is when World Rugby’s global nations tournament starts. […]

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George Skivington backing for more one-club players

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 02:59:51 +0000

George Skivington believes the tighter finances in the Premiership will lead to more one-club players having reduced the threat of poaching.

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Best yet to come for Bristol Bears, says captain Fitz Harding

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 02:59:21 +0000

Bristol went into Saturday's match against Harlequins having been in the top four all season, but Fitz Harding believes the best is still to come. The Bears have operated with a slim squad this season and it will drop a size in the summer with the number dropping from 38 to 31 senior players as […]

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Paul Rees: Raising funds for World Club Cup will not be easy

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 02:59:20 +0000

Paul Rees looks at the financial challenges of expanding the global game Given the problems rugby is facing across the globe, with finances just one of them, a new tournament in an already congested calendar being ripped off the prescription pad appears to be more placebo than cure. The Rugby World Club Cup, although it […]

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Paul Rees: End of the road for six of the best

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 02:59:19 +0000

Ten years ago, England finished their World Cup campaign with a 60-3 victory over Uruguay in Manchester. There was no consolation in victory as they had already been eliminated ahead of the knock-out stage in the tournament they were hosting. Six of the players involved that day have this season announced their retirements along with […]

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Northampton Saints’ Jonny Weimann takes his lead from Alex Mitchell

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 02:59:18 +0000

Northampton's production line shows no sign of slowing down, with Jonny Weimann the latest prospect off the conveyor belt. Henry Pollock, another academy product, has become the most talked about player in England this season, and the Saints believe they have another to watch in 19-year-old scrum-half Weimann. Released by Saracens when he was 16, […]

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Mike Brown: I never took a backward step, I never gave up

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 02:59:08 +0000

Paul Rees talks to Mike Brown, the gritty full-back who played 72 times for his country and never let his standards slip Mike Brown’s 20-year playing career, which will come to an end this month, is remarkable not just for its longevity but his consistency. The 72-cap fullback, an England record, never let his standards […]

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Paul Rees: Steve Borthwick’s summer crusade

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 25 May 2025 02:59:27 +0000

Paul Rees reports as England prepare for their two tests against Argentina and one against the United States Mike Brown announced his retirement last week at the age of 39 following a 20-year senior career, most of which was spent at Harlequins before stints at Newcastle and Leicester. He was a player who took on […]

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Dan Kelly – ‘I want to enjoy my final weeks at Leicester Tigers’

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 25 May 2025 02:59:26 +0000

Paul Rees talks to centre Dan Kelly, who joined Leicester back in 2020 and is now heading off to play for Munster Dan Kelly is set on helping Leicester win the Premiership for the second time in three years, but however the Tigers’ season finishes, it will hold disappointment for the midfielder. Kelly joined Leicester […]

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George Skivington playing it smart at Gloucester

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 18 May 2025 02:59:58 +0000

Gloucester are losing 19 players next month, but George Skivington expects to have a bigger squad next season for the same amount of money. Zach Mercer, Santi Carreras, Chris Harris, Gareth Anscombe, Christian Wade and Ruan Ackermann are some of the big names leaving Kingsholm, while Ross Byrne, Will Joseph, Jack Mann and Ben Redshaw […]

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Danny Care: ‘I never thought I’d achieve what I did’

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 18 May 2025 02:59:17 +0000

Paul Rees talks to Danny Care about hanging up his boots and the incredible career he’s had at the pinnacle of rugby It seemed as if Danny Care would go on forever, but 20 years after he made his Premiership debut for Leeds the scrum-half has reluctantly called time on a career which has involved […]

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European Finals Preview: Northampton Saints and Bath shape up to face the French

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 18 May 2025 02:59:13 +0000

Paul Rees sets the scene ahead of this weekend's grand finale to European competition in Cardiff As the Premiership hacks through the undergrowth to find a path to sustainability, envious glances are directed at France, where the Top 14, underpinned by a strong second division, is commercially vibrant and generates considerable interest, club rugby’s Shangri-La. […]

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Andy Farrell’s big British and Irish Lions test – How four unions can play as one

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 11 May 2025 02:59:15 +0000

Paul Rees looks at the challenges ahead for the Lions as they journey into the unknown When rugby turned professional, there were predictions that the Lions would be one of the first casualties, not least because of the length of tours, which were measured in months rather than weeks, and players had become the property […]

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Ben Youngs – It’s been an awesome ride and I feel privileged

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 02:59:34 +0000

Paul Rees talks to Ben Youngs as he prepares to call time on his career after 18 years at Leicester and 127 England caps Ben Youngs, England’s most capped men’s player who will retire at the end of the season after 18 years as a professional with Leicester, compares his career to a Bunsen burner. […]

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Rugby’s Biggest Scandals: Desire to win can end in tears

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 02:59:17 +0000

Paul Rees on what connects bloodgate, a collapsed scrum, a backhander and the dives of Le Garrec and Haden Racing 92 are used to being involved in knock-out matches and jockeying for position at the top of the Top 14, but this season they find themselves in a relegation scrap. Which may explain why their […]

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Paul Rees: A brighter future for Wales lies in its past

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 02:59:17 +0000

PAUL REES SAYS IT WAS THE LOCAL RIVALRIES WHICH HELPED BUILD THE GAME IN WALES AND WHICH NEED TO BE REVIVED The 1920s was arguably the worst decade in the history of Welsh rugby. In three successive Five Nations campaigns from 1923, the only team they defeated was France, easybeats in those days, a feat […]

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Matthew Tait Should I have focused on one position? I don’t know

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 03:59:24 +0000

Paul Rees looks back at Mathew Tait’s career and finds out how he - and his family - are now living and working in Dubai Twenty years on from his Test debut in Cardiff as an 18-year-old, Mathew Tait watched yesterday’s match between Wales and England stretched out on the sofa in his Dubai residence […]

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Ireland vs France – When two tribes prepare for war

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 03:59:08 +0000

Paul Rees says Saturday's heavyweight clash between Ireland and France could be the match of the Six Nations The Six Nations threatened to come down to the outcome of the match between Ireland and France in Dublin and so it surely will on Saturday, although England remain in contention, even if they need both the […]

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Money or eyeballs? Once again, that’s the big question

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 03:59:19 +0000

Paul Rees looks at the pressures on the Six Nations to balance reach and revenue Is this the last year when the Six Nations is televised entirely free-to-air? As the unions involved prepare themselves for negotiations with bidders, they will be grappling with a simple question: money or eyeballs? It is one that has taxed […]

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Newcastle Falcons to open player contract talks despite relegation worry

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 03:59:58 +0000

Steve Diamond is set to start contract talks this week with players he wants to retain, although the threat of relegation remains.

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Bristol Bears v Benetton: James Williams out to prove his worth again

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 03:59:29 +0000

James Williams saw off the challenge of Virimi Vakatawa last season and having recovered from a shoulder injury now has the task of again making himself a fixture in Bristol’s midfield where Ben-hard van Rensburg and Kalaveti Ravouvou have been creating havoc.

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Springboks and Ireland to still lead the way in 2025

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 03:59:23 +0000

Paul Rees looks forward to 2025 and sees South Africa and Ireland keeping their places at the top of the tree A new year carries with it the hope of something different, although South Africa and Toulouse will be hoping for more of the same after maintaining their dominance in 2024. The Springboks remain at […]

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I am calm and loving my life, says Danny Cipriani

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 03:59:25 +0000

Paul Rees talks to the former England No.10 as he agrees to put his boots on one final time to help raise money for MND Maverick: Danny Cipriani playing for Bath during his final season in the Premiership PICTURE: Getty Images Danny Cipriani thought he had played his last game of rugby and had no […]

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Duty of Danny Care: How Eddie Jones rates

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 03:59:15 +0000

Paul Rees examines the record and reputation of the ex-England coach who divides opinion wherever he goes A man apart: Eddie Jones took charge of England after the 2015 World Cup PICTURES: Alamy A former American footballer, George Frazier, once said: “The art of being a successful football coach seems to owe more to the […]

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Another failure to use the bench properly from England

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 03:59:54 +0000

By Paul Rees It was Groundhog Day for England as they slumped to a fourth successive narrow defeat. A difference this time was that they were back at Twickenham, sorry the Allianz Stadium, but otherwise it was the same old, a tale of missed opportunities and heartbreak at the end. A feature of the two-Test […]

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Steve Borthwick’s work in progress

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 02:59:01 +0000

Paul Rees takes a look at England's options, and talks to the Newcastle chief about turning things around... Steve Borthwick’s squad for the autumn internationals has a continuity theme following the unexpected resignations this summer of two of his coaching team, Aled Walters and Felix Jones. Walters, who worked with Borthwick at Leicester, is now […]

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George Skivington keen to build identity

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 02:59:52 +0000

By Paul Rees Gloucester won their first trophy for nine years last season and reached the Challenge Cup final, but when George Skivington went on holiday the day after the campaign ended the words in his head were never again. “Last season was not enjoyable,” said Skivington, Gloucester’s director of rugby who is in his […]

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PGP analysis – Borthwick given strong hand

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 02:59:16 +0000

Analysis Paul Rees looks at the new men's Professional Game Partnership Gand says it's a deal which suits the RFU more If the devil is always in the detail, there was not a huge amount of it when the new Men’s Professional Game Partnership between the Rugby Football Union and the Premiership clubs was announced […]

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Revived Genge is raring to go

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 02:59:54 +0000

By Paul Rees Ellis Genge spent a rare summer off fishing and intends to make a ‘turbot’ charged start to the coming campaign after missing out on England’s summer tour to New Zealand because of a calf injury sustained in Bristol’s final match of the season. Genge will start his third season back in his […]

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